Paid to Blog: Media Morgue's PayPerPost Drama

Pay Per Post is an idea that's been growing in popularity lately. Basically, its an opportunity for advertisers to connect with bloggers who are willing to blog about a product - for a price. Become a member, select your topics that are appropriate for your blog and in a few days, the companies will contact you directly to endorse their products. Then you write up an honest review of the product (key word being HONEST) and the advertisers will pay you for the post.

Some people think that this type of marketing is unethical. Especially if there is no transparency in the writing. But do you really think the Duchess of York would endorse Weight Watchers on her own without being paid for it? Or the winning quarterback of the Superbowl saying he's going to Disneyworld without being handed a butt-load of cash? Of course not. Paid endorsements are just one of the many ways that Madison Ave tries to get consumers to buy in to their products. As long as the blogger discloses that they are being paid for the post they've created, AND they post something honestly about a product, I don't see a problem.

I'm always looking for ways to turn Media Morgue into a profit-generating hobby, rather than just a way for me to vent on the insanity of celebrity train-wrecks, and the idiocy of the Hollywood machine. And since I'm not seeing thousand dollar checks from Google's Ad-sense just yet, (six months so far and I've made about $40.) I figured this might be a fun way to make some extra cash.

OK, advertisers, I'll be your whore.

So I signed up and went through the process of inserting the code into the html and waiting for PayPerPost to review the site.

I finally got an email from them today saying that Media Morgue was rejected:

Thank you for your blog submission!

Unfortunately we cannot accept your blog, as it contains adult and mature material.

Thank You!

Those exclamation points only make the comments seem that-much-more disingenuous - like a Cheshire-smiling clerk at the DMV telling you that you didn't fill out the form correctly, or you are in the wrong line after waiting an hour.

So apparently Media Morgue is an adult website in the eyes of the geek that inspected the site. I guess the main reason why they felt this way was because of my previous post about Perez Hilton and his cruising for a boy toy on manhunt.com. Never mind the 57 other posts on the main page that are not adult in nature.

Sure we may use some colorful words now and then, but I'm going to write how I damn well want. If you don't like it, fuck off.

So it looks like you will never see a payperpost posting on this site. However I am still more than willing to work with any advertisers that want to have me write about their product.

In fact, let's take this idea one step further: I will offer my services as a cynical, acid-tongued asshole to slam whatever competition advertiser decides. So if you are McDonalds, and the price is right, I'll be happy to wax eloquent on how Burger King tastes like cat poo.Just show me the money.